


The Halfway House

by qhostkid



Series: Children's Home AU [1]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Childhood Trauma, Comfort/Angst, Fluff and Angst, Humanstuck, M/M, Past Abuse, Past Child Abuse, children's home AU, davekat - Freeform, i will add more tags when/if needed, yikes these tags are dreadful
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-18
Updated: 2016-07-18
Packaged: 2018-07-24 16:56:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7515934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/qhostkid/pseuds/qhostkid
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's the first day of the two years Karkat will be spending in care. All he knows about his roommate is his name, and that he stores his dirty laundry under his bed.<br/>It's the last day of school for Dave before summer officially begins. Apparently he has a roommate awaiting him, and he has no idea what to expect.</p><p>A children's home AU with the Maryams as the carers - except Kanaya, who just kind of hangs around. Inspired mostly by the fact that I had no idea how to turn their Lusi into human parents.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Halfway House

The car rumbled down the uneven road, each bump jostling the passenger further into his anxious state. The poor quality speakers airing a generic radio show barely covered the sound of his teeth grinding together; he would have stuck his earphones in, but truth be told he was too anxious even for  _ that _ . They had passed, and were still passing, numerous brick houses. ‘Twee’ was the word that came to mind upon observing them. 

 

They were the kind of houses that you didn’t even have to step inside to guess what kind of family lived there. The pastel, spotty curtains and the well kept lawn said it all. A stay-at-home mother who made her children's lunch to take to school, who would clean the house during the day and have dinner ready for when her husband picked up the children from school on his way home from work. A stern, but gentle father who worked on weekdays in an office, who would build a treehouse with his children on the weekends, who would present his wife with pretty flowers and kisses in the evenings. A normal, functional family.

 

Karkat tightened the grip on his satchel strap further. He lowered his eyes. He didn’t want to look anymore. You’d think that by 16, he’d know some of this from first hand experience, but no. In fact, two years away from adulthood, this would supposedly be his first taste of a decent lifestyle. Two years, and then what? Would it even be worth it? Why not just throw him to the wolves  _ now?  _ He sighed agitatedly, idly picking at a hangnail on his thumb. 

 

Sure enough they arrived at their destination shortly after Karkat had  _ almost  _ got himself calmed down, which only served to rile him up again. He was  _ not ready for this.  _ But, fuck, could anyone ever be? He groaned as the radio shut off and the sound of a seatbelt unclicking reached his ears.

 

“Come on, we’re here now.” The woman driver spoke. She’d turned around in her seat to look at him. She paused before speaking again. “Hey… It’s not so bad. I know it’s scary now, but… Trust me, you’ll adjust. It will take time, but you  _ will. _ ”

 

The words didn’t sink in, they just sort of…. Floated around him. Would he? Would it be like school again? The whole, ‘you’ll make friends in no time! Just be yourself!’ shindig, only to find that no, nobody likes you and nobody will be your friend? He didn’t reply. He just inhaled sheepishly and opened the car door. She took the hint and stepped outside too. 

 

Once they stood at the back of the car, it dawned upon Karkat that he really didn’t have many belongings. Some clothes, his toothbrush, his old-as-fuck iPod Nano, the satchel he carried and the shoes he wore on his feet.

 

“Travelling light, I see… Well, that makes it easier for me.” the woman spoke, and grabbed his bag of clothes. She slammed the boot of the car and pointed a tattooed arm ahead of her, “Entrance is this way. I’ve gotta get to work, but I’ll make sure to hand you over to my aunt first.”

 

Karkat followed self-consciously, taking in his surroundings. The building was very wide, and looked to have several floors. In front was gravel, and either side was more gravel, except in the shape of paths that lead to gates.

 

Once they reached the front door, the woman whose name he had forgotten in his nervous state, opened it and swiftly stepped inside. He stepped inside after her. 

 

His heart was hammering in his chest and his palms were sweaty. He barely registered being greeted by another woman, who he assumed was the aunt. They shared the same, knowing gaze of green and sleek posture.

 

“You must be Karkat, no?” the aunt spoke pleasantly. Her voice was soft and motherly.

 

He couldn’t make eye-contact, instead he chose to stare intently at her shoes. They were black.

 

“Yeah.” He croaked. His throat wasn’t dry, just unused. The three of them stood in silence for several long seconds before he realised that it was, in fact, silent. And silent was wrong. At least, here, it felt wrong. He cleared his throat before he spoke again, “Where is everybody?” he asked.

 

“Hm…? Oh, that’s right. It’s still school hours, so... Well, I guess that answers your question. I figured it would be easier, or, less hazardous for you to move in your belongings while the area was less… Populated. However… I’m assuming this is all you brought with you?” 

A nod came from the driver-niece, who was now observing her painted nails, assumedly waiting to be dismissed. 

“Well, that’s just fine. Your room is already furnished adequately, as we are indeed prepared for any situation.” she continued to speak, “Thank you, Porrim, for your efforts today. I believe you are due at your place of employment shortly, so I will take it from here.” 

 

The exchange turned out not to last as long as he had initially thought. With the woman’s eloquent way of speaking, he had got the impression that they’d be there for half an  _ hour  _ at least. As it so happened, it was short and sweet almost. Almost.

 

To be fair, nothing at that given moment would seem sweet to Karkat. 

 

He watched as the driver left; Porrim, her name was. He glanced back at the aunt-woman nervously as she retrieved his bag of clothes. She smiled. Not too saccharine, but not too real in such a way that would make him feel uncomfortably vulnerable.

 

“I suppose Porrim didn’t happen to inform you of my name. You may call me Rosa. I am the founder, and Porrim is a niece of mine who kindly volunteers. I am on site almost always. If you require my presence, somebody will be sure to know of my whereabouts.” she began to approach one of the two wide stairways, the one on the left, and gestured for him to walk alongside her. “You may also make the acquaintance of my daughter, Kanaya, who frequently visits me - or, more realistically speaking, her friends here.”

 

They stopped outside a door at the far end of the hallway. The layout was similar to those of dormitories, sort of, and he was lead to believe that each room held two occupants. The thought of having a roommate was unnerving.

  
Another elegant gesture had him assuming this was it: The room he’d be living in for the next two years. His eyes flitted from her slim hand to the smooth wooden door. She was waiting for him to open the door. He didn’t want to. It didn’t feel like home, a place you could open your bedroom door with confidence. But then again neither did his  _ actual  _ home. He felt himself falter a little, and decidedly reached out to open the door.

 

It didn’t matter anymore, whether he was afraid or not - whether his fears were justified or not. This was it. The end of the line. Whatever happened now, he’d just have to deal with it. He reminded himself that for him, this was as good as it would get.

 

He didn’t know what he expected to find before him when he opened the door, but the picture in his mind certainly hadn’t been of such a normal-looking teenager’s bedroom. Of course, some of the clutter was a bit questionable in taste, but the fact that there was clutter… He didn’t know what that meant to him personally, but it meant something. 

 

Karkat stood in the doorway for a moment, his clammy hand still stuck to the handle. He almost forgot, being so focused on taking in the surroundings of his new shared room, that he was not currently alone.

 

“Your assigned bed is the one on the left, along with the rest of the furniture on that side of the room.” she explained before frowning slightly in what appeared to be distaste. She tsked. “I  _ told  _ David to  _ clean  _ the room before you got here. In what world does ‘ _ clean’  _ equate to ‘shove all your dirty laundry underneath the bed and pretend it’s not there’? … Well, it matters not. He will tidy it when he returns from school.” 

 

Rosa placed Karkat’s bag of clothes just beyond the threshold. “Should you need anything, I will be downstairs in my office. You’ll see it  on your way down the stairs. Everything else is just as easy to find, I hope. I’ll leave you to get settled.”

 

With that, he took a step into the room and thought about how oversized the dresser seemed for the small amount of clothes he owned. He took another step into the room and thought about how the bedsheets - his bedsheets - were cleaner than anything he’d slept on in his life. He took another step and thought about how it didn’t smell like rotten food and cigarettes. 

  
One more step and Karkat felt alone at last. Finally, his grip on his satchel slackened, and he let free the shaky breath he didn’t realise he’d been holding.

**Author's Note:**

> i don't know what i am doing. i am not a writer. but there we go.  
> i have no idea when i'll have the next chapter done i'm a lazy turd and ???  
> most of my knowledge about children's homes is from The Story Of Tracy Beaker so, ,, , ,,,,, yeah,,,,
> 
> also I'd really appreciate feedback on the in (or out) of character-ness of the Maryams as I don't really write them that often. thanks <3


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